In the name of God almighty know all who
may see this last will and testament that I, General Don Diego de Vargas Zapata
Lujan Ponce de Leon, Marquez de la Nava Brazinas, Governor and Captain General
of thin Kingdom and Province of New Mexico. By His Majesty appointed, native of
the imperial court of Madrid in the Kingdom of Castile, being sick in bed with
the infirmity which God, Our Lord, has been pleased to place upon me, believing
as I firmly and truly do in the mystery of the Holy Trinity, Father, Son and
Holy Ghost, three distinct persons and only one true God, receiving as I do
receive, as my intercessor the Holy Virgin Mary, mother of the divine and
eternal Word, I confide my soul to a most clear career of salvation,
interceding with her worthy Son for forgiveness of all my sins. I do make order
and dispose and declare this to be my testament in the manner and form
following;
Firstly: I commend my soul to God who
created it with the price of His precious blood, and my body to the earth from
which it was made.
And if His Divine Majesty shall be
pleased to take me away from the present life, I desire and it is my will that
a mass be said while the corpse is present in the church of this town of Bernalillo,
and afterwards the same shall be taken to the Villa of Santa Fe and placed and
suspended in my bed selected as a bier and in the same be taken to the church
of said town of Santa Fe and buried in said church at the principal altar under
the platform where the priest stands; this I ask as a favor. Said bier to be
covered with honest woolen cloth and buried according to military rites and the
title ceremonies and privileges of Castile, leading two horses covered with the
same clothing and the bier.
I order that on the said day of my funeral
there be distributed among the poor of said town fifty measures of corn and
twelve head of cattle.
I declare, also, that since the eighth
day of June of last year, 1703, when I left the City of Mexico, I have been indebted
to the Royal Treasury of His Majesty for the salary for two years which was
advanced to me, which at the rate of two thousand dollars per annum will amount
to four thousand dollars, which the Most Excellent Duke of Albuquerque ordered
his officers and judges of the Court of Mexico to deliver to me upon my giving
a life security, and having given the same with the Captains Don Joseph de
Villa Urritia, Knight of the Order of Alcantara, and the Major Don Pedro de
Tagle, Knight of the Order of Alcantara, and also with Don Joseph Carrilllo Royal
Minister of Finance.
I
leave and assign for the payment and satisfaction of the most of the account of
which I may be indebted to His Majesty form the day that God Our Lord may be
please to take me away said salary, and that the aforementioned may not suffer or be compelled
to pay any amount. I assign as a special pledge two young negro coachmen of
known age, for whom I paid six hundred and sixty dollars, the excise tax having
been paid by me and which is mentioned in the receipt in my possession, to
which I refer; and my attorney will also deliver a white mulatto woman named
Josefa de la Cruz, twenty-two years of age, the wife of Ygnacio, one of the two
coachmen, who was the slave of Don Juan Cristobal de Palma y Mosa, councilman
of the Royal Audience of Guadalajara, the contract showing her value.
In the same manner my attorney and
executor, the same being my Lieutenant-General, Don Juan Paez Hurtado, will remit or sell at the
best obtainable prices the following silverware:
Lot: Thirty small silver dishes, the fifth
part taken, and twenty-four sealed with my coat-of-arms and weighing more than
two marks.
Two large dishes which weigh twelve
marks and ounces.
Six candle-sticks with my coat-of-arms,
and two pairs of candle snuffers, which weigh forty-two marks, more or less.
Twelve silver porringers which weigh
twelve ounces, sealed with my coat-of-arms, the one-fifth part taken.
One silver bowl, gilded with a siren,
weighing sixteen and seventeen marks, more or less.
One small silver keg, with stopper and
chain, the one-fifth part taken, weighing six marks.
One large plain tankard, weighing two
marks and six ounces.
Six silver forks and their silver tea
spoons, the fifth part taken and weighing twelve ounces.
Three silver table spoons, weighing
about two ounces.
One large silver fountain, engraved,
one-fifth part taken and weighing twenty-three marks.
Another small silver fountain, engraved
with vine-leaves, the one fifth taken, weighing thirteen marks.
One silver deep bowl, for shaving
purposes, the one-fifth taken and weighing twelve marks.
One silver waiter, weighing fourteen
ounces.
One silver basin, with my coat-of-arms,
the one fifth taken and weighing nine marks.
One pair of pearl earrings with eight
fine emeralds, each one and its pendants worth five hundred dollars.
One finger ring, with a rose diamond,
checkered and enameled in black and gold, worth one hundred dollars.
Another finger ring with two diamonds,
enameled in black and gold, worth one hundred dollars.
Said silverware I leave to my
testamentary executor to be sold to the person or persons of his approval, the
returns to be remitted to the three said gentlemen, my said sureties in said
court and City of Mexico, and in the same manner he shall pay the balance of
the freight upon three boxes of gun-powder, whatever it may amount to, together
with the cost of hides, ropes and covers, for which said amount I ask him to
secure a receipt in full payment.
I also declare as my sons, although not
my legitimate wife, Don Juan Manuel de Vargas, of the age of twenty-four years,
and Don Alonso de Vargas, of the age of twenty-three years, and their sister Doña
Maria Theresa, who is with her mother in the City of Mexico, of the age of
nineteen years, who have been supported on my account and to whom I assign two
thousand dollars in cash, which are in a small cedar box, and more to make up
said amount there will be found in the silk warehouse, it being understood that
said amount of two thousand dollars forty-five dollars, shall be divided among
the three, the two brothers and sister, in equal parts.
Reference: Spanish Archives of New Mexico, Series I,
Twitchell 1027, Reel 5, Frames 1150-1191.
This is a copy of Twitchell's Translations of the Spanish Archives of New Mexico.
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